13 minutes agoAfter NATO membership, Finland sets spine wire on border with Russia
Periskopi(3 years ago)
(3 years ago)Less than two weeks after NATO membership, Finland has begun to place razor wire on the border with Russia, a move aimed at curbing illegal border crossing. The Finnish border guard indicated on Friday the construction of the first three kilometers of this thorn - wire line, [...]
Less than two weeks after NATO membership, Finland has begun to place razor wire on the border with Russia, a move aimed at curbing illegal border crossing.
The Finnish border guard indicated on Friday the construction of the first three kilometers of this stringed line in the area of Pekola, near the town on the banks of Lake Imara with 25,000 inhabitants.
Finland's border line with Russia is 1,340km long, among all other European Union countries.
Construction of the border fence was approved last year by the government of Prime Minister Sanna Marin with broad political support.
Finnish border officials say the main goal of the steel fence, with a height of three metres and an extension of thorns at the top, is to prevent illegal crossings from Russia and give authorities time to react.
During 2015-2016, Moscow tried to influence Helsinki, organising a large number of asylum seekers at the border crossings in Finland.
Russian authorities pushed thousands of asylum seekers, mainly from Iraq, Afghanistan and other Middle Eastern countries, towards these border crossing points.
The movement was named a show of strength on the part of Moscow. The issue was resolved when Finnish President Saul Niinistö held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The influx of immigrants stopped immediately after that.
Finland, with a population of 5.5 million who officially became a NATO member on April 4th, aims to prevent the repetition of such a scenario.
However, border officials agree that Russia's attack on Ukraine was the main reason it urged Finland to join the alliance and build the thorn-tighted border.
The construction of the border barrier was not a political topic before the war (in Ukraine). And in fact, it wasn't even on the planet of the Finnish border guard,” told the Associated Press General Yari Tolphan, head of the Finnish Border Guard Technical Division. “Everything changed after the attack (Russian vs Ukraine)”.
Construction of the thorn - wire line line is designed to end at the end of this summer and is expected to reach a maximum length of 200 miles [200 km].
“in this new situation, we need to increase border control,” said Mr. Tolppane. “We must strengthen our resources. And the fence is necessary to manage, for example, illegal migration on large scale. ”
The Finnish town of Imara is located just seven kilometers from the Russian industrial city of Svetogorsk in the Carelia region and is a few hours away from the second largest Russian city of St. Petersburg.
The city has a long history in relations with Russian tourists, daily vacationers and permanent residents.
“Here in Imara, we're not so afraid of the Russians,” said Antero Lattu, deputy head of the Imara Municipal Council, “but we're happy to put the fence”.
The border fence project is estimated to cost around 380m euros and is scheduled to be completed by 2026./ VOA
